​Student-nominated speakers from each of Harvard’s 12 graduate schools presented TED-talk style mini-lectures at the 6th annual “Lectures that Last,” in front of a packed 830-person Memorial Church audience Saturday evening.

Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching researchers photographed students in 29 courses during a controversial attendance study last spring, the researchers said Thursday when pressed to disclose the exact number of courses studied.

Despite growing interest nationwide in statistics and “big data” over the past decade, students and faculty in the department have said that much of the new excitement for the field at Harvard is due to Blitzstein’s personal commitment to teaching and the enormous influence he has had on the undergraduate body.

Both Blitzstein and Elkies are known to be terrific chess players. Blitzstein is ranked as an “Expert” by the US Chess Federation, placing him in the 98th percentile of tournament players. Elkies is ranked even one step higher as a “Master,” and specializes in solving and composing chess problems. Both have been playing chess for as long as they can remember, but the serious mathematicians have found it difficult to find time for their favorite game at Harvard. FM asked the two to revive their passion for a quick match of speed chess.